American pop star Madonna has visited an orphanage in Malawi for children who have lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic.
Several orphans sang to the music star at the home near the city of Blantyre Thursday. Madonna handed out copies of her children's book, The English Roses, which had been translated into Malawi's main language.
The singer arrived in the southern African country on Wednesday, in part to inspect a large orphan care center she is funding near the capital, Lilongwe.
Government officials have said Madonna also is using the trip to adopt a boy from Malawi. But a spokesperson for Madonna, Liz Rosenberg, denied the reports.
She added the singer hopes publicity surrounding her trip will draw attention to the plight of Malawi's estimated one million AIDS orphans.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.